Tony Bastable

Tony Bastable, who has died at the age of 62, was one of the bright and breezy Mr Clean children's television programme presenters of the 1970s, with a fringe, a winning smile and perfect teeth. He became famous on Magpie, the ITV programme that aimed to be a more modern and lively competitor of the BBC's Blue Peter.

He was with Magpie from its start in 1968, when the newly franchised commercial television company Thames screened it on the first day of its transmissions. Bastable was part of a trio of alternating presenters that also included the actor Susan Stranks and the ex-Radio 1 disc jockey Pete Brady. He was highly rated by the critics as well as the producers of the programme for his skill and charm in relaying facts and information to children. The programme's catchy theme tune, based on an old children's chant, One for sorrow/Two for joy/Three for a girl/And one for a boy/Magpie! was chanted on the programme by a flamboyant magpie called Murgatroyd and in homes by child and adult viewers alike.

Bastable was born in Hexham, Northumberland, educated at University College School in Hampstead, north London, and became a schoolteacher, a training in how to hold the attention of children which was to be especially useful to him during his time with Magpie. Taking to journalism, he worked for local newspapers in west London before, as a newspaper editor, he was successful in his ambition of getting a job in television.

He was first employed by Southern TV at Southampton as a news reporter, but was judged too youthful in appearance and manner to convey authority and was instead switched in 1964 to Southern TV's children's programme Three-Go-Round, where he stayed for 18 months before moving to ATV and a succession of children's, schools and sports programmes. After presenting Action, Junior Sportsweek, Sportsweek and Towards Mathematics in the Midlands, he left for London, where he joined the BBC educational programme Science Session and then joined Magpie.

Here both his populist and educational propensities came into full flower. Starting twice a week from Thames' Teddington studios, and with more emphasis on pop music, fashion and fun than the BBC's Blue Peter, the programme was to include Bastable's own section, called A Date With Tony, in which he dealt with historical and other serious subjects in a light and jokey way that threatened the BBC Blue Peter ratings. Reading history was one of his hobbies, the other being cricket - he helped run a team in Surrey called the Magpies. He was the co-founder in 1972 and at various times secretary, captain and president. He became an umpire, working with the Institute of Cricket Umpires and Scorers. He was proud of the fact that children who had watched Magpie would hail him in the street 30 years later as briefcase-holding adults with, "Aren't you the man from Magpie?"

Bastable stopped presenting Magpie in 1972, and became one of the programme's producers before moving on to present other Thames TV shows. In 1973 he began a two-year stint as co-presenter with Joan Shenton of Good Afternoon!, a Thames programme mostly for women. The spin-off from this was Good Afternoon! Money-Go-Round, a financial advice programme.

Bastable presented two series of Problems (1976-77), a programme on sexual difficulties screened late at night and with Claire Rayner with him in the first series, and Jenny Conway and Paul Brown for the run. His widening versatility for Thames included the Drive-In programme with Shaw Taylor from 1973 to 1978, and also its successor Wheels from 1980 to 1981. He presented Miss Thames Television in 1976, and in more serious vein wrote and presented 1776, the ITV celebratory programme on the US bicentenary, and provided the commentaries for the award-winning historical series English Garden, which were delivered by Sir John Gielgud.

Bastable wrote two children's books, the libretto for an oratorio and the book and lyrics for a musical. His later years were spent making training programmes and films for his own independent production company. He died from emphysema in East Surrey hospital, Redhill.

He was married three times: to June Buchan in 1969; to Jackie Colkett in 1974, with whom he had a daughter, Kate; and to Anita Westwood in 2001.

· Anthony Leslie Bastable, television presenter and producer, born October 15 1944; died May 29 2007